biwa instrument classification biwa instrument classification

As well as being one of the leading pipa players of his generation, Li held many academic positions and also carried out research on pipa scales and temperament. The biwas sound at the attack (top) at one second later (bottom). This overlap resulted in a rapid evolution of the biwa and its usage and made it one of the most popular instruments in Japan. In the 20th century, two of the most prominent pipa players were Sun Yude (; 19041981) and Li Tingsong (; 19061976). The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710-794). [6] The strings were played using a large plectrum in the Tang dynasty, a technique still used now for the Japanese biwa. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. The biwa may be used to accompany various types of narrative, as part of a gagaku (court music) ensemble, or as a solo instrument. In the narrative traditions where the pipa is used as an accompaniment to narrative singing, there are the Suzhou tanci (), Sichuan qingyin (), and Northern quyi () genres. [12][13] Yet another term used in ancient text was Qinhanzi (), perhaps similar to Qin pipa with a straight neck and a round body, but modern opinions differ on its precise form. Ueda Junko and Tanaka Yukio, two of Tsuruta's students, continue the tradition of the modern satsuma-biwa. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. The instrument was invented in China in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, during the Jin dynasty. Japanese and foreign musicians alike have begun embracing traditional Japanese instruments, particularly the biwa, in their compositions. [32][33][34] A famous poem by Bai Juyi, "Pipa xing" (), contains a description of a pipa performance during a chance encounter with a female pipa player on the Yangtze River:[35]. The 4 wedge-shaped frets on the neck became 6 during the 20th century. Over 100 years after its development, the H-S system is still in use in most museums and in large inventory projects. Taiko Related Articles on Traditional Japanese Instruments 1. The biwa, considered one of Japan's principal traditional instruments, has both influenced and been influenced by other traditional instruments and compositions throughout its long history; as such, a number of different musical styles played with the biwa exist. The Met Fifth Avenue 1000 Fifth Avenue Typically, the lowest notes of the arpeggios are open strings, while the highest ones can either be fingered pitches or an open string. In order to boost the volume of its sound the biwa player rarely attacks a single string, and instead arpeggios 2, 3, or 4 pitches, with one note per string. The biwa originated in the Middle East and was delivered to Japan via the Silk Road in the 8th century. Traditionally they are lashed with heavier rope, though some modern instruments are tightened with large screws. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710-794). Written by Nobuko Fukatsu This is the original form of biwa that came to Japan in the 8th century. The frets of the satsuma-biwa are raised 4 centimetres (1.6in) from the neck allowing notes to be bent several steps higher, each one producing the instrument's characteristic sawari, or buzzing drone. Kakisukashi: This is a three or four-note arpeggio with two strings in unison. The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Accession Number: [10] An instrument called xiantao (), made by stretching strings over a small drum with handle, was said to have been played by labourers who constructed the Great Wall of China during the late Qin dynasty. Among ethnomusicologists, it is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments. These tunings are relative, the actual pitches a given biwa is tuned to being determined by the vocal range of the singer/player. It always starts from the 4th string and stops on either the 3rd, 2nd, or 1st string depending if the arpeggio contains 2, 3, or 4 pitches, respectively. Carlo Forlivesi's compositions Boethius () and Nuove Musiche per Biwa () were both written for performance on the satsuma-biwa designed by Tsuruta and Tanaka. Most prominent among these are Minoru Miki, Thring Brm, YANG Jing, Terry Riley, Donald Reid Womack, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Bun-Ching Lam, and Carl Stone. [6] Another Han dynasty text, Fengsu Tongyi, also indicates that, at that time, pipa was a recent arrival,[7] although later 3rd-century texts from the Jin dynasty suggest that pipa existed in China as early as the Qin dynasty (221206 BC). It is a big percussion instrument of Japanese that plays integral part of many Japanese Matsuri (festival). In the 13th century, the story "The Tale of Heike" ()was created and told by them. The peg box is angled about 90 degrees from the neck, and the back of the body is flat, unlike the western lute. Region: East Asia. The loquat is in the family Rosaceae, and is native to the cooler hill regions of south-central China. It is similar in shape to the chikuzen-biwa, but with a much more narrow body. For the left hand, as mentioned above under the Construction section, bending of the strings (oshikan, ) and delicate control of it to create a vibrato effect (yuri. ) This is due to the fact that the space between the strings on the first three frets is so short that a fingered 1st fret on the 3rd string, for example, would damp the following 4th string, as shown on Figure 7. It is an instrument in Japan, that is a two-stringed fiddle (violin). Lin Shicheng (; 19222006), born in Shanghai, began learning music under his father and was taught by Shen Haochu (; 18991953), a leading player in the Pudong school style of pipa playing. This type of biwa is used for court music called gagaku (), which has been protected by the government until today. The chikuzen biwa is played with the performer in the seiza position (on the knees, legs folded under) on the floor. With the end of the wars, unsurprisingly, the biwa music became less popular, and the number of biwa musicians dropped significantly. length https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/500681, Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown ; James L. Amerman, The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. It produces distinctive ichikotsuch () and hyj (). Few pieces for pipa survived from the early periods, some, however, are preserved in Japan as part of togaku (Tang music) tradition. Players hold the instrument vertically. Catalogue of the Crosby Brown . There are seven main types of Biwa, each distinguished by the number of strings, sound produced, and use. Players from the Wang and Pudong schools were the most active in performance and recording during the 20th century, less active was the Pinghu school whose players include Fan Boyan (). The traditional Satsuma-biwa has 4 strings and 4 frets (Sei-ha and Kinshin-ryu schools), and newer styles have 5 strings and 5 frets (Nishiki and Tsuruta-ryu schools). The five-stringed pipa however had fallen from use by the Song dynasty, although attempts have been made to revive this instrument in the early 21st century with a modernized five-string pipa modeled on the Tang dynasty instrument. February 20, 2008. These cookies do not store any personal information. [9] When singing in a chorus, biwa singers often stagger their entry and often sing through non-synchronized, heterophony accompaniment. (92.7 20 12.7 cm), Classification: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The satsuma-biwa (), a biwa with four strings and four frets, was popularized during the Edo period in Satsuma Province (present-day Kagoshima) by Shimazu Tadayoshi. Fine strings murmur like whispered words, We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. Classification (Sachs-Von Hornbostel revised by MIMO) 321.312 chordophone--spike box lute or spike guitar: the resonator is built up from wood, the body of the instrument is in the form of a box through which the handle/neck passes It is one of the more popular Chinese folk music, often paired with singing. Shanghai-born Liu Guilian graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and became the director of the Shanghai Pipa Society, and a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and Chinese National Orchestral Society, before immigrating to Canada. The open strings are shown in the first measures, and the pitches assigned the left-hand fingered notes in the following four measures. [25] Extra frets were added; the early instrument had 4 frets (, xing) on the neck, but during the early Ming dynasty extra bamboo frets (, pn) were affixed onto the soundboard, increasing the number of frets to around 10 and therefore the range of the instrument. Rubbing the strings: The plectrum is used to rub an open string. The instrument is played with a large wedge-shaped plectrum called a bachi. It may be played as a solo instrument or as part of the imperial orchestra for use in productions such as daqu (, grand suites), an elaborate music and dance performance. Reflecting its history as an instrument for samurai, its music is often described as dynamic and heroic. The biwa (Japanese: ) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate collapsed, giving way to the Meiji period and the Meiji Restoration, during which the samurai class was abolished, and the Todo lost their patronage. The main part of the music is vocal and the biwa part mostly plays short interludes. [45] Other collections from the Qing dynasty were compiled by Li Fangyuan () and Ju Shilin (), each representing different schools, and many of the pieces currently popular were described in these Qing collections. Northern Wei dynasty (386534 AD). The four-string specimen is tuned to a shamisen tuning called honchshi (interval structure, from the lowest string upwards, of P4 - P5, with the top two strings tuned in unison): approximately B2 E3 B3 B3; a typical tuning for the 5-string instrument has the intervallic sequence of P4 (down) P4 (up) M2 (up) P4 (up), approximately E3 B2 E3 F-sharp3 B3. This may be due to the fact that the word pipa was used in ancient texts to describe a variety of plucked chordophones of the period from the Qin to the Tang dynasty, including the long-necked spiked lute and the short-necked lute, as well as the differing accounts given in these ancient texts. Biwa (Japanese instrument) - MIT Global Shakespeares Biwa (Japanese instrument) The Biwa is a Japanese teardrop lute, similar to the lute and the oud, with a short neck and frets. [23], During the Song dynasty, pipa fell from favour at the imperial court, perhaps a result of the influence of neo-Confucian nativism as pipa had foreign associations. 36 1/2 7 7/8 5 in. Famous pieces such as "Ambushed from Ten Sides", "The Warlord Takes Off His Armour", and "Flute and Drum at Sunset" were first described in this collection. It had a pear-shaped wooden body with two crescent-shaped sound holes, a curved neck, four strings, and four frets. The typical 5-stringed Satsuma-biwa classical tuning is: CGCG, from first string to fourth/fifth string, respectively. The rhythm in biwa performances allows for a broad flexibility of pulse. [3][4][5], The earliest mention of pipa in Chinese texts appeared late in the Han dynasty around the 2nd century AD. Telling stories and holding religious practices with biwa accompaniment became a profession for blind monks, and it was these wandering blind monks who carried on the tradition. The fourth/fifth string G is an octave higher than the second string G. Again, note this is relative tuning; it could be AEAE, GDGD, etc, depending on the players range of voice. In the present day, there are no direct means of studying the biwa in many biwa traditions. Influenced by the shamisen, its music is rather soft, attracting more female players. Different sized plectrums produced different textures; for example, the plectrum used on a ms-biwa was much larger than that used on a gaku-biwa, producing a harsher, more vigorous sound. Instead, biwa singers tend to sing with a flexible pitch without distinguishing soprano, alto, tenor, or bass roles. Though its origins are unclear, this thinner variant of the biwa was used in ceremonies and religious rites. Today, the instrument is played in both narrative and instrumental formats, in the traditional music scene as well as in various popular media. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: Even the biwa hshi transitioned to other instruments such as the shamisen (a three-stringed lute).[15]. The ms-biwa (), a biwa with four strings, is used to play Buddhist mantras and songs. The biwa is a four stringed lute and it is approximately 106 cm long (42 inches). The design and construction of the 5-string Chikuzen biwa pictured in gallery #2 is basically the same as for the 4-string model described above except accommodations need to be made to the pegbox (detail #7) and bridge (detail #8) for the additional string. [40] Through time, the neck was raised and by the Qing dynasty the instrument was mostly played upright. Even though the system has been criticized and revised over the years, it is the most widely accepted system of musical instrument classification used by organologists and . Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. [56], Texts from Tang dynasty mentioned many renowned pipa players such as He Huaizhi (), Lei Haiqing (), Li Guaner (), and Pei Xingnu (). [42] During the Qing dynasty there originally two major schools of pipathe Northern and Southern schools, and music scores for these two traditions were collected and published in the first mass-produced edition of solo pieces for pipa, now commonly known as the Hua Collection (). Type. In Satsuma-biwa classical pieces, the thickest string (the first) is in principle. During the 1910s a five-string model was developed that, since the 1920s, has been the most common form of the instrument (gallery #2). L 31 1/2 W. 11 13/16 D. 1 5/16 in. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 681. The strings are numbered from the lowest (first string) to the highest (fourth string). Wood, leather, Dimensions: greatest width of resonator It helps illustrate the neglible amount of resonance the biwa produces, because already after 1 second most of its sound energy is below the threshold of hearing. From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the biwa tradition: satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa. The instrument is also held vertically while playing. [2][29] Wang Zhaojun in particular is frequently referenced with pipa in later literary works and lyrics, for example Ma Zhiyuan's play Autumn in the Palace of Han (), especially since the Song dynasty (although her story is often conflated with other women including Liu Xijun),[30][29] as well as in music pieces such as Zhaojun's Lament (, also the title of a poem), and in paintings where she is often depicted holding a pipa. Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. 1800 Geography: Japan Culture: Japanese Medium: Wood, mother-of-pearl and ivory Dimensions: 35 12 1/8 11 1/2 in. Japanese lute with 4-5 strings and frets. [36][37] The Ming collection of supernatural tales Fengshen Yanyi tells the story of Pipa Jing, a pipa spirit, but ghost stories involving pipa existed as early as the Jin dynasty, for example in the 4th century collection of tales Soushen Ji. 2008. Examples of popular modern works composed after the 1950s are "Dance of the Yi People" and "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" (). The biwa developed into five different types in its long history: . Traditionally, the 2nd pitch either acts as a lower neighboring tone or a descending passing tone. With this, the biwa entered a period of popularity, with songs reflecting not just The Tale of the Heike, but also the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, with songs such as Takeo Hirose, Hitachimaru and 203 Hill gaining popularity. The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Accession Number: 89.4.123. There are some types of traditional string instrument. In Satsuma-biwa classical pieces, the thickest string (the first) is in principle used only as a drone, and usually tuned to the same note as the third string, making the second the lowest. There are more than seven types of biwa, characterised by number of strings, sounds it could produce, the type of plectrum, and their use. This is a system used to classify all musical instruments.This system was created by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs.The Hornbostel-Sachs system is based on how an instrument vibrates to produce sound. the finger and thumb separate in one action), it is called fen (), the reverse motion is called zhi (). The instrument has seen a great decline . It is however possible to produce the tremolo with just one or more fingers. Among the major variants are the gakubiwa (used in court music), the msbiwa (used by Buddhist monks for the chanting of sutras), the heikebiwa (used to chant stories from the Heike monogatori), the chikuzenbiwa (used for an amalgam of narrative types), and the satsumabiwa (used for samurai narratives). Traditional Chinese narrative prefers the story of the Han Chinese Princess Liu Xijun sent to marry a barbarian Wusun king during the Han dynasty, with the pipa being invented so she could play music on horseback to soothe her longings. Because of this tradition as a narrative music, the biwa is mostly played solo and is less commonly played with other types of instruments, except in gagaku () or the court orchestra where it is used in its original instrumental role, and in modern instrumental repertoire. Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted, Credit Line: [21] For example, masses of pipa-playing Buddhist semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang. Biwa performers also vary the volume of their voice between barely audible to very loud. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The 14- or 16-fret pipa had frets arranged in approximately equivalent to the western tone and semitone, starting at the nut, the intervals were T-S-S-S-T-S-S-S-T-T-3/4-3/4-T-T-3/4-3/4, (some frets produced a 3/4 tone or "neutral tone"). The biwa is a relative of Western lutes and guitars, as well as of the Chinese pipa. to divide instruments into eight categories determined by materials. [11] The style of singing accompanying biwa tends to be nasal, particularly when singing vowels, the consonant , and syllables beginning with "g", such as ga () and gi (). used to strike the hard soundboard sharply to create percussive effects, adding a more dynamic flavor to the music. The electric pipa was first developed in the late 20th century by adding electric guitarstyle magnetic pickups to a regular acoustic pipa, allowing the instrument to be amplified through an instrument amplifier or PA system. greatest width of resonator Of the remaining post-war biwa traditions, only higo-biwa remains a style almost solely performed by blind persons. The method of holding the plectrum is different when performing kaeshibachi or kakubachi, and consequently composers need to allow a few seconds for the repositioning of the hand when using the two techniques in sequence. Ms Biwa (), Dimensions: Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection - Chikuzen Biwa. 77-103. Two basic types of wood are used to make stringed musical instruments: woods for soundboards (top plates) and those for frame boards (back and side plates). It had close association with Buddhism and often appeared in mural and sculptural representations of musicians in Buddhist contexts. Further, the frets and the nut are wide, which provides a surface, not a point, for a string to touch. The pipa, pp, or p'i-p'a (Chinese: ) is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. It is an important instrument in the Peking opera orchestra, often taking the role of main melodic instrument in lieu of the bowed string section. This type of instrument was introduced to Korea (the bipa ), to Japan (the biwa ), and to Vietnam (the tyba ). Shamisen. At the beginning of the Meiji period, it was estimated that there were at least one hundred traditional court musicians in Tokyo; however, by the 1930s, this number had reduced to just 46 in Tokyo, and a quarter of these musicians later died in World War II. Ms Biwa () Japanese. Sanshin 4. often-used technique is rubbing the long side of the bachi on the strings to get wind-like sounds.